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Demoing at an Apple Event: Secretive, Stressful, and (Probably) Worth It

The highs and lows of being chosen to appear onstage with Tim Cook. Photo: Christina Bonnington and Brian X. Chen/Wired

SAN FRANCISCO — The entire tech world is gearing up for Apple’s Sept. 12 press event, where the company is expected to introduce the next-generation iPhone. And if past is prologue, Apple will pick some third-party apps to showcase the capabilities of its newest flagship gadget.

Before every Apple product launch, the company reaches out to select developers to start figuring out who will get to present onstage. Some have apps or services that are in demand, while others might just have an app that happened to catch Apple’s attention. Either way, developers chosen to participate in these highly orchestrated events are expected to prepare on Apple’s timeline and, in some cases, create new features specifically for a demo.

“There was an ongoing dialog between us and Apple that there might be an opportunity to present at an event,” recalled one developer who presented at an iPad event. But talking didn’t mean they would be chosen. There was still an audition to get on stage. “You demo your apps to Apple and you go through a series of interviews,” said the developer, speaking on condition of anonymity. “You tell them all the details about when it’s coming and what features you can have ready around the timeframe that they’re looking to have their event.”

Pangea Software demoed Enigmo and Cro-Mag Rally at the 2008 WWDC. Unlike the developer from the iPad event, president and CEO Brian Greenstone never had to go through an audition and had very little time to get ready. “Apple contacted me, and the funny thing was that the timing was horrible,” Greenstone said. “I was out of town with my dog and they called Friday evening asking me if I could be in Cupertino on Sunday. I told them that was logistically impossible, but that I’d try to get there Monday morning. Luckily, I was able to do that, and it all worked out. This was only the week before the event.”

Once a developer has been chosen to take part in an event, they are expected to adhere to a strict timeline — which sometimes includes encamping at Apple’s Cupertino headquarters for a week or longer, going over everything they will be presenting. One iPhone developer, who also spoke to Wired on condition of anonymity, recalled working full time for a week on a scripted two-minute presentation.

That developer, however, was guaranteed a spot on stage, which apparently isn’t always a case, even for those who are asked to create presentations. “We were given three weeks’ notice with no guarantee that we would actually demo,” said the developer who presented at the iPad event. “Even five minutes before you go onstage, you don’t know if you’ll present.”

Greenstone told Wired that they spent a week rehearsing for the event, where he was one of 11 app developers to present. “I remember sitting in the green room before we each went on stage,” Greenstone said, “and someone had to find a towel for us because all of us had really sweaty hands.”

“My memory is a bit fuzzy because by the time the actual event came around I had rehearsed the whole schtick so many times that I could recite it in my sleep. It was a pretty automated experience by the time I got up there.”

While it’s easy to assume there’s a big sales boost that goes along with presenting at an Apple launch, which should more than offset the long hours involved in prepping, it’s actually hard to quantify. “Apple wants things you haven’t launched,” according to the developer from the iPad event, which means no existing figures for comparison. “So we don’t have the sales metrics to know if the appearance was worth it.”